Cup chain conveyor for fruit

ABSTRACT

In a fruit processing apparatus incorporating a chain of elastomer conveyor cups with each cup formed with a single ear at one end and a pair of ears at the other end, each pair of ears straddling a single ear of an adjacent cup with a pivot bushing extending through aligned pivot bores of the three ears and wherein a drive wheel has a circumferential series of laterally projecting drive pins that enter inner ends of the successive pivot bushings briefly to actuate the conveyor, the present invention improves the anchorage of the pivot bushing by providing the opposite ends of the pivot bushing with oppositely facing outer circumferential shoulders and by providing the bores through the two straddling ears with inner oppositely facing circumferential shoulders that cooperate with the outer circumferential shoulder to prevent axial shift of the pivot bushing in opposite axial directions.

United States Patent. [191 Holbrook [451 Mar. 12, 1974 CUP CHAINCONVEYOR FOR FRUIT Primary ExaminerRichard E. Aegerter AssistantExaminer-Jeffrey V. Nase Attorney, Agent, br Firm-Paul A. Weilein [57]ABSTRACT In a fruit processing apparatus incorporating a chain ofelastomer conveyor cups with each cup formed with a single ear at oneend and a pair of cars at the other end, each pair of ears straddling asingle ear of an adjacent cup with a pivot bushing extending throughaligned pivot bores of the three ears and wherein a drive wheel has acircumferential series of laterally projecting drive pins that enterinner ends of the successive pivot bushings briefly to actuate theconveyor, the present invention improves the anchorage of the pivotbushing by providing the opposite ends of the pivot bushing withoppositely facing outer circumferential shoulders and by providing thebores through the two straddling ears with inner oppositely facingcircumferential shoulders that cooperate with the outer circumferentialshoulder to prevent axial shift of the pivot bushing in opposite axialdirections.

11 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures CUP CHAIN CONVEYOR FOR FRUIT BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION This invention relates to the construction of a fruitprocessing apparatus of the general character disclosed in the Wells US.Pat. No. 2,631,625 dated Mar. 17, 1953 which patent is herebyincorporated into the present disclosure by reference. Moreparticularly, the present invention pertains to the pair of cooperativeconveyors in the Wells patent each of which comprises a series ofelastomer cups which hold halves of bisected citrus fruit, the cupsbeing linked together by hollow pivot bushings mounted in ears of thecups. With the two coextensive cup chains confronting each other, thetwo cup chains are relatively close together at their opposite ends andspreading apart at their midregions. A

I rotary feeder supplies fruit to the pair of cup chains at I theapplicatio n for the Wells patent, a persistent problem has been thetendency for the pivot bushings to loosen and shift axially in thealigned bores of the cups. This tendency is causedby the drive pins ofthe juicer head applying high magnitude frictional drag forces to thehollow bushings in alternate axial directions as the drive pinsrepeatedly enter and withdraw from the pivot bushings at acute angles.Too often an axial shift does occur to cause a pivot bushing to protrudeinto a path that interferes with other rapidly moving parts of theapparatus with the consequence that extensive wreckage of the partsoccurs before the apparatus can be shut down.

Since the axial frictional drag on a pivot bushing when a drive pinenters the inner end of the bushing appears to exceed the opposite axialfrictional drag when the drive pin'withdraws, the emphasis hasheretofore been on preventing axially outward shift of the pivot bushingand accordingly the inner end of a conventional pivot bushing has beenformed with a radial bead to abut a metal reinforcement that is embeddedin the cup. The opposite inward axial shift of the pivot pin has beendiscouraged to lesser degree by forming the pivot bore in the cup withan inner circumferential groove to seat the bead of the pivot bushing.The development of any further expedient to anchor the pivot bushing hasbeen hindered by the necessity of the pivot bushing being removable topermit substitution of new pivot bushings for a worn pivot bushing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A primary object of the invention is to providemeans in releasable positive engagement with the pivot bushing not onlyto prevent outward axial shift of the pivot bushing but also to preventinward axial shift, and further to provide such double-locking meansthat will permit ready replacement of a pivot bushing when desired. Thisobject is attained by providing the outer end of the pivot bushing witha circumferential groove and forming the elastomerof thecorrespondingear of the cup with an inner circumferential rib that seats snugly inthe circumferential groove.

To provide positive engagement of the elastomer with the pivot bushingin such manner as to prevent inward axial shift of the pivot bushing,one side of the circumferential groove in the pivot bushing forms aradial shoulder perpendicular to the axis of the bushing which abuts asimilar perpendicular complementary radial shoulder of the innercircumferential elastomer rib. Thus the conventional radial flange ofthe bushing cooperates with the embedded reinforcement of the cup toprevent shift of the pivot bushing in one axial direction and shift inthe opposite axial direction is blocked by abutment of the radialshoulder of the elastomer rib with the complementary radial shoulderformed by one side of the circumferential groove of the pivot bushing.To facilitate installation of the pivot bushing the second side of thecircumferential groove in the pivot bushing and the corresponding secondside of the elastomer rib are both beveled.

A further feature of the invention is that'a chamfer on the leading endof the pivot bushing not only facilitates installation of the pivotbushing but also cooperates with a suitable tool for disengaging thecircumferential elastomer rib from the pivot bushing to facilitateremoval of the pivot bushing in the event such removal is required.

A further feature of the invention is the concept of insuring a tightinstallation of the pivot bushing by preloading the pivot bushing undertension. For this purpose the elastomer of the cup is elasticallydeformed by the installation of the pivot bushing, energy being storedin the elastic material to keep the pivot bushing under axial tensionthat precludes any looseness of the pivot bushing in the aligned boresof the cups.

The features and advantages of the invention may be understood byreference to the following detailed description and the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings, which are to beregarded as merely illustrative:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view, partly in section, of anapparatus incorporating the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the pair of coop-' crating cupchains of the apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view of one of the cup chains asseen along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view as seen along the line4-4 of FIG. 3 showing a pivot bushing installed in the aligned bores ofoverlapping ears of a pair of successive cups of a cup chain; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view, partly in phantom, showing how the oppositesets of drive pins of the juicer head briefly enter the successive pivotbushings of the two cup chains respectively to actuate the cup chains.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1illustrates a juice extracting machine of the general characterdisclosed in the above mentioned Wells patent. The apparatus has a frame20 which incorporates a juice trough 22 leading to a discharge spout 24.The apparatus has a pair of conveyors 25 each of which comprises anendless chain of elastomer cups 26 which pass over corresponding pulleysat the two ends of the conveyor. As shown in FIG. 3 each cup 26 isformed with a pair of parallel slots 28 and as best shown in FIG. 4 thecups are linked together by pivot bushings 30. v

In the construction shown, each cup 26 is formed at one end with asingle central ear 32 and is formed at the other end with a pair of earscomprising a first ear 33 and a second ear 34 which are spaced anddimensioned to straddle a central ear. At the juncture of two cups apivot bushing 30 is seated in three aligned bores comprising a bore 35in the first straddling ear 33, a bore 36 in a central ear 32, and abore 38 in the second straddling ear 34. As shown in FIG. 4, each cup isreinforced by an embedded flat metal bar 40 that has a circular aperture42 at one end forming a portion of the bore 35 in the first straddlingear and has a circular aperture 44 at the other end forming a portion ofthe bore 36 in the central ear 32 of the cup. Thus the pivot bushings 30and the metal reinforcement bars 40 form a metal conveyor chain.

The twoconveyors 25 confront each other to cooperate to grasp newlyreceived whole fruit and the two conveyors converge at each of theiropposite ends and diverge towards a point midway of their length as maybe seen in FIG. 2 where it is apparent that each of the conveyorschanges direction at a slight angle at its midpoint.

A feeder wheel, generally designated 45,- is provided at one end of thepair of conveyors 25 to supply whole citrus fruit to the cooperatingpair of conveyors, the feeder wheel having radially extending blades 46which form pockets 48 for the fruit. The feeder wheel structure includesa disc 50 on the near side of the wheel as viewed in FIG. 1, which disccloses one side of the wheel and one sideof each of the pockets 48. Thecircumferential series of traveling pockets receive whole fruit from aside entry hopper that is on the far side of the wheel as viewed inFIG. 1. FIG. 1 shows in dotted lines how a plurality of fruit 52 in theside entry hopper is urged against the open side of the feeder wheel tofeed the successive pockets 48.

The fruit that is fed to the pair of cooperating conveyors 25 by thefeeder wheel 45 is carried by the conveyors 25 against a fixed knife 54which bisects the fruit and leaves the fruit halves in the cups 26 ofthe two conveyors respectively. The fruit halves are carried along thelower runs of the two cup chains to a rotary juicer head 55 shown inpart in FIG. 5 where a circular series of rotary reamer units 56 brieflyenter the cups 26 to ream the fruit. The reamed skins of the fruit arecarried by the upper runs of the two cup chains where suitable starwheels 58 shown in FIG. 2 enter the slots 28 of the cups to dischargethe reamed skins into a hopper 60 before the cups again reach the feederwheel 45.

The rotary juicer head 55 is power driven to actuate the movable partsof the apparatus. For this purpose the rotary juicer head drives thepair of cooperating conveyors 25 and, in turn, the cups 26 of the twoconveyors mesh with the radial blade 46 of the feeder wheel 45 to drivethe feeder wheel.

FIG. 5 indicates how two sets of laterally extending drive pins 62 onthe opposite sides respectively of the juicer head 55 briefly enter thesuccessive pivot bushings to actuate the pair of cooperating conveyors25.

It is apparent that each drive ,pin 62 enters a pivot bushing 30 at anacute angle and subsequently withdraws from the pivot bushing at anacute angle. The resultant frictional drag in alternate axial directionson each of the pivot bushings 30 tends to dislodge the pivot bushingsaxially and the purpose of the present invention is to effectivelyanchor the pivot bushings against such axial displacement. Effectiveanchorage keeps the apparatus from being damaged by displaced pivotbushings and, moreover, keeps the pivotbushings from being wornexcessively by repeated slight axial movements in response to thefrictional drag forces in the alternate directions, By completelyeliminating even minor axial shift of the pivot bushings the inventionreduces wear on the pivot bushings to a degree that causes the pivotbushings to outlast the cups 26 in which they are mounted.

At what may be termed the inner ends of the pivot bushings 30, Le, theends that repeatedly receive the drive pins 62, each pivot bushing isformed with an outer'circumferen'tial bead' or flange 64 that abuts thecorresponding circular aperture 42 in the reinforcement bar 40 of thecup. The bead 64 is of rounded cross section and the elastomer of thecup is formed with a corresponding inner circumferential groove 65 ofcurved cross section to fit the bead in a snug manner. The head 64 andthe cooperating groove 65 are old in the art.

The manner in which the invention positively anchors pivot bushings 30against axial shift will now be explained.

The pivot bushing 30 is formed with an outer circumferential groove 66near its outer end and the outer side of the groove forms an inwardlyfacing radial shoulder 68, the surface of which is perpendicular to theaxis of the pivot bushing. The inner side of the circumferential groove66 forms a tapered shoulder that facilitates installation of the pivotbushing. The bore 38 through the elastomer material of the cup ear 34 isformed with an inner circumferential rib '72, one side of which pro-.vides the bore with an inner circumferential radial shoulder 74perpendicular to'theaxis of the bushing to abut the othercircumferential radial shoulder 68 of the pivot bushing in a positivemanner. The second side of the rib forms a tapered inner circumferentialshoulder which conforms to the outer circumferential tapered shoulder 70of the pivot bushing.

The outer end of the pivot bushing 30 is beveled or chamfered asindicated at 76 to facilitate insertion of the pivot bushing. When thepivot bushing is inserted into the three aligned bores 35, 36, and 38,the bead 64 of the pivot bushing snaps into the inner circumferentialgroove 65 of the bore 35 in the ear 33 and the inner circumferential rib72 in the bore 38 of the ear 34 snaps into engagement with the outercircumferential groove 66 of a pivot bushing.

It is apparent that abutment of the bead 64 of the pivot bushing 30against the rim of the circular aperture 42 in the reinforcement bar 40serves as positive means to prevent outward axial shift of the pivotbushing. At the same time, the abutment of the radial shoulder 68 of thepivot bushing against the radial shoulder 74 of the innercircumferential elastomer rib 72 serves as positive means to block theopposite inward axial shift of the pivot bushing. Thus, in effect, theouter shoulder 68 and the bead 64 of the pivot bushing straddle theinner shoulder 74 of the bores and the inner shoulder formed by the rim42 of the reinforcement bar 40 to lock the installed pivot bushing inplace. In addition, the usual engagement of the bead 64 of the pivotbushing with the surrounding groove 65 of elastomeric material opposesaxially inward shift of the pivot bush- The chamfer 76 on the outer orleading end of the pivot bushing not only facilitates installation ofthe bushing but also has utility for cooperation with a suitable tool(not shown) for removing the pivot bushing if removal of the pivotbushing ever becomes desirable.

The installed pivot bushing 30 may, if desired, be preloaded in tensionfor tighter anchorage of the pivot bushing. The preloading of thebushing in tension is accomplished by shaping and dimensioning eachelastomer cup to make the axial distance between the radial shoulder 74of the elastomer rib 72 and the inner circumferential groove 65 of theelastomer slightly greater in the absence of the pivot bushing than theaxial distance between the outer circumferential radial shoulder 68 andthe bead 64 of the pivot bushing so that to install the bushing it isnecessary to distort the elastomer to an appreciable degree. The twostraddling ears may be slightly flexed towards each other by theinstalled pivot bushing 30 to place the pivot bushing under the desiredtension.

The normal operation of the apparatus inherently tends to cause the cupsto deteriorate because the acid fruit juice floods the cups and seeksout all available crevices and because crevices tend to be developed bythe cyclic bending of the cups. The cyclic changes in direction oftravel of the cups by slight angles at the midpoints of the upper andlower runs of the cup chains stress the cups as may be seen in FIG. 4and tend to destroy the bond between the elastomer and the embeddedmetal reinforcement bars. These causes of deterioration have heretoforemade it necessary to replace cups after 3004,000 hours of service andalso have made it necessary to replace worn pivot bushings while thecups are still in operating condition. Surprisingly, it has been foundthat the improvement in the anchorage of the pivot bushings increasesthe service life of the cups to at least 2,000 hours with no necessityto replace worn pivot bushings during such a service period.

This detailed description of the selected embodiment of the inventionwill suggest various changes, substitutions and other departures fromthe disclosure within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a fruit processing apparatus incorporating a conveyor comprising aseries of elastomer cups with each cup formed with a single ear at oneend and with a pair of first and second cars at the other end, each pairof ears of one cup straddling a single ear of an adjacent cup with apivot bushing extending through aligned pivot bores of the three ears topivotally interconnect the two cups and wherein a power actuated rotarymeans has a circumferential series of laterally projecting drive pinsthat periodically briefly enter inner ends of the successive pivotbushings to actuate the conveyor,

the improvement for positive anchorage of a pivot bushing in alignedbores of the three ears, comprisone of the aligned bores being formedwith a first inner shoulder facing towards one end of the aligned bores;

the pivot bushing being formed with a first outer circumferentialshoulder in cooperating abutment with said inner shoulder of the alignedbores to prevent axial shift of the pivot bushing towards the other endof the aligned bores;

one of the aligned bores being formed with a second inner radialshoulder facing towards said other end of the aligned bores;

and the pivot bushing being formed with a second outer circumferentialradial shoulder in abutment with said second inner shoulder to preventaxial shift of the pivot bushing towards said one end of the alignedbores.

2. An improvement as set forth in claim 1 which includes a metalreinforcement embedded in the body of the cup and extending into one ofthe two straddling ears of the cup, said reinforcement having a circularaperture the rim of which forms at least part of said first innershoulder of the aligned bores for abutment by said first outercircumferential shoulder of the pivot bushing.

3. An improvement as set forth in claim 1 in which the pivot bushing hasan outer circumferential groove, one side of which provides said secondouter circumferential radial shoulder of the pivot bushing; and in whichone of the aligned bores is formed with an inner circumferential ribthatis dimensioned to seat in said outer circumferential groove, oneside of said rib forming said second inner radial shoulder of thealigned bores.

4. An improvement as set forth in claim 3 in which the other side of theouter circumferential groove in the pivot bushing forms a tapered outercircumferential shoulder and the corresponding side of thecircumferential rib forms a complementary inner circumferential taperedshoulder to facilitate insertion of the pivot bushing into the alignedbores.

5. An improvement as set forth in claim 1 in which said first innershoulder of the aligned bores is formed at least in part by areinforcement embedded in the material of the cup.

6. An improvement as set forth in claim 1 in which the pivot bushing hasan outer circumferential flange that forms said first outercircumferential radial shoulder of the pivot bushing.

7. An improvement as set forth in claim 5 in which one of the alignedbores is formed with an inner circumferential groove to seat said outercircumferential flange of the pivot bushing.

8. An improvement as set forth in claim 1 in which said inner shouldersare in said two straddling ears respectively and when the two straddlingears are unrestrained the distance between said inner circumferentialshoulders of the ears differs from the distance between said outercircumferential shoulders of the pivot bushing, the difference beingsuch that the installed pivot bushing resiliently distorts the materialof the two straddling ears with consequent axial stressing of thebushing to discourage loosening of the engagement of the pivot bushingwith the two straddling ears.

9. An improvement as set forth in claim 8 in which the two innershoulders of the bore straddle the two outer shoulders of the pivotbushing and in the absence of the pivot bushing the distance between thetwo one end of the pivot bushing is chamfered for the dual purpose offacilitating installation of the pivot bushing and of cooperating with atool for withdrawal of the pivot bushing when desired.

1. In a fruit processing apparatus incorporating a conveyor comprising aseries of elastomer cups with each cup formed with a single ear at oneend and with a pair of first and second ears at the other end, each pairof ears of one cup straddling a single ear of an adjacent cup with apivot bushing extending through aligned pivot bores of the three ears topivotally interconnect the two cups and wherein a power actuated rotarymeans has a circumferential series of laterally projecting drive pinsthat periodically briefly enter inner ends of the successive pivotbushings to actuate the conveyor, the improvement for positive anchorageof a pivot bushing in aligned bores of the three ears, comprising: oneof the aligned bores being formed with a first inner shoulder facingtowards one end of the aligned bores; the pivot bushing being formedwith a first outer circumferential shoulder in cooperating abutment withsaid inner shoulder of the aligned bores to prevent axial shift of thepivot bushing towards the other end of the aligned bores; one of thealigned bores being formed with a second inner radial shoulder facingtowards said other end of the aligned bores; and the pivot bushing beingformed with a second outer circumferential radial shoulder in abutmentwith said second inner shoulder to prevent axial shift of the pivotbushing towards said one end of the aligned bores.
 2. An improvement asset forth in claim 1 which includes a metal reinforcement embedded inthe body of the cup and extending into one of the two straddling ears ofthe cup, said reinforcement having a circular aperture the rim of whichforms at least part of said first inner shoulder of the aligned boresfor abutment by said first outer circumferential shoulder of the pivotbushing.
 3. An improvement as set forth in claim 1 in which the pivotbushing has an outer circumferential groove, one side of which providessaid second outer circumferential radial shoulder of the pivot bushing;and in which one of the aligned bores is formed with an innercircumferential rib that is dimensioned to seat in said outercircumferential groove, one side of said rib forming said second innerradial shoulder of the aligned bores.
 4. An improvement as set forth inclaim 3 in which the other side of the outer circumferential groove inthe pivot bushing forms a tapered outer circumferential shoulder and thecorresponding side of the circumferential rib forms a complementaryinner circumferential tapered shoulDer to facilitate insertion of thepivot bushing into the aligned bores.
 5. An improvement as set forth inclaim 1 in which said first inner shoulder of the aligned bores isformed at least in part by a reinforcement embedded in the material ofthe cup.
 6. An improvement as set forth in claim 1 in which the pivotbushing has an outer circumferential flange that forms said first outercircumferential radial shoulder of the pivot bushing.
 7. An improvementas set forth in claim 5 in which one of the aligned bores is formed withan inner circumferential groove to seat said outer circumferentialflange of the pivot bushing.
 8. An improvement as set forth in claim 1in which said inner shoulders are in said two straddling earsrespectively and when the two straddling ears are unrestrained thedistance between said inner circumferential shoulders of the earsdiffers from the distance between said outer circumferential shouldersof the pivot bushing, the difference being such that the installed pivotbushing resiliently distorts the material of the two straddling earswith consequent axial stressing of the bushing to discourage looseningof the engagement of the pivot bushing with the two straddling ears. 9.An improvement as set forth in claim 8 in which the two inner shouldersof the bore straddle the two outer shoulders of the pivot bushing and inthe absence of the pivot bushing the distance between the two straddlinginner shoulders is less than the distance between the two outershoulders of the pivot bushing.
 10. An improvement as set forth in claim8 in which the elastomer of the two straddling ears is of a higher Shorehardness than the body of the cup.
 11. An improvement as set forth inclaim 1 in which one end of the pivot bushing is chamfered for the dualpurpose of facilitating installation of the pivot bushing and ofcooperating with a tool for withdrawal of the pivot bushing whendesired.